Shane Fessel had homered exactly twice in his previous 315 trips to the plate as a varsity baseball player. The past 15 times he’s stepped into a batter’s box for Smoky Hill, he’s gone deep eight times — a span of five games and 12 at-bats.

“I’ve never seen a streak like this,” said Smoky Hill coach Scott Henry. “I’ve seen it over a season, but not over a five-game stretch. No. This is pretty amazing.”

“I just hit the ball hard,” Fessel said, “and it’s been a home run every time.”

Fessel, a senior who transferred from Villa Park High School in Orange, Calif., before the season, hit his first home run of the season in his final at-bat of an 8-2 win over Arapahoe on April 16.

He hasn’t stopped going yard since. Cherokee Trail was the next victim, and Fessel then homered twice against Mullen, Arapahoe and Grandview.

Neil Devlin, originally from the Philadelphia area, has covered high school sports in Colorado for more than 30 years, writing about the people, athletes and events that encompass the Rocky Mountain prep sports world.